James said:
I recentley updated my windows 98 system to xp I
completely reformated my system then did the new install
of XP Now every once in a while when I start my system as
XP is loading It goes to a black screen with white dots
flowing down it in 2 vertical lines. If I shut down the
system and reboot it runs fine any ideas?
It is hard to give you a definite answer without actually looking at
your computer, but because you say this is random, perhaps some of your
hardware is failing. After all, this is an older computer. Without more
information, it isn't possible to give you an exact answer, but here
are generic hardware troubleshooting steps:
1) open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing); 2) test
the RAM - I like Memtest86 from
www.memtest86.com - let the test run
for an extended (like overnight) period of time - unless errors are
seen immediately; 3) test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from
the mftr.; 4) the power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for
the devices you have in the system; 5) test the motherboard with
something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Testing hardware
failures often involves swapping out suspected parts with known-good
parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are uncomfortable
opening your computer, take the machine to a good local computer repair
shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy type of store).
Malke
